I Love You
by R.R. Petrichor
Summary: Passionate, intimate, heated, stormy love. Kisses, hugs and entwined fingers. One heavenly night at the farmhouses and suddenly... Everything is different. For better or for worse, they're about to find out... - WARNING: Contains Tcest, mature scenes, turtle tots, etc. Raphael X Leonardo. -WARNING: updates will be delayed!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I own no TMNT's D'x**

**A/N: Just a quick note: ****They're turtles, their blush wouldn't be red..**

**Ps. The 'parts' are all on this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Part One**

Splinter couldn't quite figure out how such information had eluded him for so long. He couldn't help the stab of pain that he, their father, hadn't been able to figure this out sooner, when the others obviously had. All the small remarks and teasing glances had somehow eluded him.

Had his two sons worked hard to hide this from him, or was it just that he had never thought, ever, that his sons felt, well, like more than just brothers?

Now that he knew – had seen – what relationship his two sons had, it seemed fairly obvious. The teasing, the nicknames – no, _pet_ names – and the competitiveness; this was all a result of their… Their _love_. Not just brotherly love but _love_. Real, deep, intimate love.

Splinter looked into his room where his two sons currently kneeled, awaiting him to enter, to either chastise them or bless their love for each other. The fact that his sons doubted his unconditional love for them hurt deeply, though Splinter knew that it was most likely a cause of how the media portrayed these situations.

He watched as his son comforted the other, murmuring words of comfort. He watched as his two sons stared at each other; the one just as apprehensive as the other.

But there gazes also held something else: love.

How could he, their father, refuse them something so precious, something that they obviously treasured? How could he tell them no, when everyone else was telling them yes? How could he say no, when both his heart and his brain were screaming yes?

Here his sons were, undeniably, irreversibly in love. Who was he, to say that was wrong? Who was he to refuse such rights upon them? Who was he to deny them happiness, of which they desired so deeply?

And so his mind was made up.

These two teenagers were his sons, who he loved unconditionally, no matter what. He would accept them, even if no one else would. He would love them, even if no one else did.

After all, what kind of father would he be if he didn't?

* * *

**Part Two**

Taking a steadying breath, Splinter entered the room, shutting his door behind him. He held his chin high and knew that he was coming off intimidating. He also knew, however, that this way, his approval would lift his son's moods much higher. It took a lot for him to not smile at the happiness that would split across their features. He got to the front of the two and turned swiftly.

"Stand." Splinter commanded stiffly.

His emerald green son sent his lover one more reassuring glance before the two stood: tense, apprehensive, worried, hopeful and, most importantly, utterly terrified. Guilt slithered its way into Splinter but he kept up the charade. Despite telling himself it was to make his sons more joyful, deep down he knew it was also the fact that he was a tiny bit spiteful that his sons had left him in the dark for so long.

"Raphael, Leonardo," Splinter started, his voice cold, "May I ask how long… _this_ has been going on?"

The two glanced at each other.

"A couple months." Raphael spoke, his voice steady, calm.

"I would appreciate it if you were a little more specific." Splinter told him.

Raph swallowed the lump building in his throat and answered tentatively, "A little over a year, Sensei."

"And why have I not learned of this… '_Relationship_' until now?" Splinter inquired and, before Raph could speak, added, "Leonardo?"

Leo tensed visibly. Splinter could see the scene of Leo fretting over how this conversation was going to play out, and Raph murmuring for him not to worry, that he'd do the speaking, to relax. That everything would be fine. Splinter used his forefinger to raise Leo's chin and lock their eyes. Raphael went to say something but Splinter raised his other hand in a silencing gesture.

"I asked you a question, Leonardo. Do not make me ask it again." Splinter said, removing his finger, letting Leo's chin drop back to his chest. Leo mumbled something.

"What was that?" Splinter spoke.

"I-I don't… I don't know." Leo replied weakly, his shoulders dropping.

Splinter returned his gaze to his red-clad son, "How long did you say you two have been dating, Raphael?"

"A year, roughly." Raph responded confidently, his shoulders squared and his chest puffed out slightly. His body posture was rigid and his fierce amber gaze whispered the emotion fear, though he worked hard not to show it.

Splinter let out a sigh and shook his head, turning around so that he faced neither of his sons, "I suggest you two sleep well tonight. Yous shall be cleaning the dojo tomorrow; I want it sparkling by the time yous finish."

"_What_?" Anger coated Raphael's voice.

Splinter chose to ignore him and shook his head again, tutting, "Hiding news like this from your own father? Honestly."

"What?" Raph repeated, sounding confused now.

Splinter turned around to face them now. Raph's over-confident, defensive stance had softened and Leo stared at Splinter anxiously, hopeful.

"I am your _father_, Raphael, Leonardo." He glanced between the two, "Hiding such news for a month - maybe even two - would have been acceptable. A year, however…" Splinter shook his head in disapproval, "We are a _family_. Families do not keep secrets from each other. You both know this and, yet, here we all are."

There was a brief silence in which his words sunk in.

"S-So… We have your blessing?" Raph inquired, excitement tainting his voice.

"You are my _sons_." Splinter answered, "You will always have my blessing. The both of you."

Splinter placed his hands on both Leonardo and Raphael's and put them into each other before pulling his own back. His two eldest sons looked down at their hands, entwined in the other's, before their eyes met, sharing a look of both love and contentment.

"Yous may go now, if yous would like." Splinter told them.

"Hai, Sensei." Raph replied. Leo yelped as he was pulled out of the room by an all-too-enthusiastic, red-clad turtle.

Splinter smiled lightly and a small chuckle left his lips.

* * *

**Part Three**

Donnie and Mikey waited in the lounge room, anxiously awaiting their brothers. Mikey perked up as Raph entered the room, Leo in tow with their hands entwined. Donnie and Mikey stared questioningly and were answered by the smile that spread across Raph's face and the dark green blush which heated Leo's cheeks.

Splinter entered the room and smiled weakly as Mikey and Donnie cheered, happy that their father hadn't disapproved of the eldests' relationship. Raph flopped onto the lounge, laying down, pulling Leo down with him. Leo frowned at his lover and swatted at his plastron, causing Raph to chuckle.

"Wait, that means…" Mikey said mischievously, turning to look at Donnie. Splinter raised his eyebrows suspiciously as his two younger sons counted down from three silently before chanting, quite loudly:  
"KISS! KISS! KISS…! KISS! KISS! KISS…!"

Splinter chuckled softly at the '_no-way-in-shell_' look that covered Leo's face. Raph smirked and grabbed Leo's cheeks in his hands, planting a kiss on his lover's lips, causing the blue-clad's face to darken. '_So is Raphael the 'dominant' male of this relationship?_' Splinter thought to himself wondrously. When he'd first learnt of the two's love, he'd assumed Leo would have been the 'dominant' one of the relationship.  
Raph chuckled as Leo failed to stop himself from blushing, his whole face still a dark shade of green.

"Yer remind me of a school-gurl sometimes, Leo." He teased.

Donnie and Mikey laughed at the reference and Splinter couldn't help but smirk despite himself. Leo frowned, obviously displeased, and kneed Raph in the 'nuts' before shoving him off the lounge. Leo turned over to look at his lover, who grunted in pain. A small smile slithered onto Leo's face.

"What was that you were saying, Raphie-boy?" Leo mocked.

"OOOH, BURN!" Mikey crowed, laughing.

Splinter smiled softly. Mikey yelped as Raph made a grab for him and the two began running through the lair, Leo watching the red-clad turtle intently, his blue eyes filled with lust. Realising Splinter had noticed his staring, Leo blushed once again and tensed up before looking away from everyone. Letting out a silent sigh and mentally shaking his head, Splinter, too, realised something; it was going to take a while for his sons to feel one hundred percent comfortable with each other around himself, but at least there would be small moments like the one previously, where they would be too fixated on each other's presence to care whether or not they were being watched.

Splinter looked to his orange and red clad sons. Mikey was making his way back to the lounge room and snagged Leo from his seat, causing a yelp from the eldest to emerge. Mikey then proceeded to use Leo as a shield.

"Mikey." Leo complained half-heartedly.

"Mikey!" Raph snarled.

Donnie rolled his eyes at the all too familiar scene, "I'll be in my lab."

"Ugh, Leo, get outta de damn way!" Raph pounced for Mikey, who had leaned to the side to blow Raph a raspberry. Mikey laughed. Leo rolled his eyes, which had humour sparkling in them.

"I think I will retire for the night. Goodnight, my sons." Splinter said, turning and walking towards his room, yawning, his mouth in the shape of a small smile.

"Sleep sounds good," Leo faked a yawn, a plan to keep Raph from pouncing on Mikey in his head, "I think I should have a shower first, though."

He started off and Mikey's jaw dropped. He began to start shouting out words like 'traitor' and Raph smirked, pounding his fists together in a menacing way, until Leo turned around and said his name.

"Raph? Aren't you coming? I'll be locking the door after me; and don't think I'll be unlocking it until I'm finished." Leo continued towards the bathroom, smirking. Raph glanced between Mikey and Leo. He let out a sigh and followed his lover, turning back to Mikey to say.

"If I were you, I'd be sleeping with one eye open, Mikey." He hissed.

Mikey laughed, relieved, "Thanks, Leo!"

He turned back to the TV, snatched up the remote and switched onto a monster movie marathon.

"Don't stay up all night, Bonehead." Leo called back. The sound of the bathroom door opening and shutting soon followed.

Raph smirked at Leo as he locked the door and wrapped his arms around the blue-clad ninja. Leo rolled his eyes and smiled lightly as Raph began to pull at the knot of his belt. He loved the moments like these that they shared together and was glad they no longer had to be so secretive about them. The possibilities now open to them swarmed through his mind; possibilities he liked very much. He took a deep breath as Raph's strong hands began to glide along his sides and across his plastron. Leo hummed loudly and leaned his head back into Raph's shoulder as the emerald green turtle pulled off his belt and began to pull at the other bits of material and at his sheaths.

There was something about his lover undressing him that... That made him feel... _Special_. It made him feel the way he did when a warm, cosy draft would waft through the cold sewers. It reminded him of the time Splinter had taken them out for Trick or Treating for the first time and the time he had first perfected a kata, only... Only, well, this was different. More intimate.

Leo smiled lightly as Raph finished undressing him and turned around to undress the red clad warrior. He pulled at his belt so that their waists now touched and began to undo the tight knot with one hand, while pulling his sais out and placing them on the weapon rack with the other. He let his light blue gaze hover over Raph's body and take in the sight. Anticipation began to build inside of him as he pictured the last time they'd gone in the shower.

Finally, both turtles now clothing-less, Leo got into the shower and started up the water. Raph got in next. Despite being considered the younger of the two **(2007 movie)** Raph was now bulkier and taller - though the height difference was generally unnoticeable. Leo let out a content sigh as the warm water poured over his skin. Raph licked his suddenly dry lips and watched as the water rolled off of Leo's graceful body and down his not-too-defined muscles. Leo noticed the staring and a small smile reached his lips. He watched Raphael, too, and took note of the way the water ran down Raph's bulging muscles. Leo smiled lightly and raised his hand to his lover's emerald green cheek, who, in turn, placed his hand over Leo's.

"I love you." Raph whispered, his voice quiet, deep and alluring.

"I... I love you, too." Leo mumbled back, leaning into his lover's chest.

"Y-You know, Leo..." Raph hesitated, "Now that Splinter knows, w-we might.. We could, um, get him to let us, uh, go to Casey's for, like, a date or whatever... Th-Then we could, y'know..."

His voice trailed off and his hands neared Leo's slit, where his leaf green dick lay, hidden. Leo stopped Raph's hands from moving closer with his own. He looked away from the disappointment in Raph's golden-amber eyes.

"Still not ready?" Raph mumbled, trying to sound understanding.

"I-I just... I mean..." Leo took a deep breath and shrugged, "I don't know. It just feels too early. I mean, Splinter only just found out today a-and the guys, they only figured us out a while ago... I just-,"

"It's fine." Raph said assuredly, his voice soft, "I can wait."

Leo's shoulders dropped and he let out a small sigh, feeling guilty for being the one that always said '_later_', "It's not as if I don't want to Raph, really. I just-,"

"It's _fine_, Leo. I unda'stand. 'Sides, the longa' we wait, the betta it's gonna be, right?" Raph cut in, his voice teasing.

Leo smiled weakly but didn't meet his lover's gaze. Couldn't. He didn't quite understand why but not being ready for sex, when Raph obviously was, made him feel, well... Stupid. It wasn't a big deal, really. They loved each other, they murmured it to each other whenever possible, and sex was just a more physical way of 'saying' it. Leo let out a sigh; physical _was_ always more Raph's domain.

"Leo." Raph lifted his lover's chin so that their eyes locked. His amber eyes were soft, "It's fine. Stop bein' a worry-wart."

"I'm not-,"

"And now you're being touchy." Humour sparkled in Raph's eyes.

Leo rolled his blue eyes and sighed, reaching for the tap, yawning sleepily, "'M so tired."

Raph smiled lightly and kissed his lover's cheek.

"Hey, so... Since everyone knows now..." The taps now on 'off', Leo leaned into Raph's arms, "You wanna carry me ta bed?"

Raph smirked at the way his vocabulary was slowly starting to slip into Leo's and he managed a small nod. Raph picked his lover up bridal style and somehow managed to snag up their weapons and 'clothing' up, too, and carried the lot of them to Leo's room. Leo mumbled a weary thanks as Raph placed him in bed and then placed their stuff ontop of Leo's wooden desk. He then joined his lover in his bed and snuggled up to him, wrapping his large emerald green arms around the blue clad ninja.

"Night, Fearless." He muttered softly.

"G'night, Hot-head." Leo mumbled back sleepily, yawning as he drifted off to sleep, "L've ya."

Raph smiled weakly and the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

**A/N: WOWZA'S that was long! xD**

**If you liked or disliked this, please drop me a review, as I'm semi-self-conscious about writing this stuff and since this is the first Tcest fan fiction I've ever uploaded.  
****Anything I should change? Anything you liked in particular?  
****_Feedback is VERY, VERY appreciated_ and reviews will urge me to continue on (otherwise I'll most likely end up bored with this fan fiction and move onto something that might spark up more interest).**

**Please remember to review &amp; give feedback! :) :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: ****Purtroppo, io non possiedo TMNT (from Italian to English: Sadly, I don't own TMNT)**

**NOTE* this fanfiction is a mix of the 2003, 2007 &amp; 2012 universes**

* * *

**Last line of chapter 1 – **_Raph smiled weakly and the two fell asleep in each other's arms._

* * *

**Chapter Two**

After two months of small, timid shows of affection, both the blue and red clan turtles were beginning to feel much more comfortable with being more open of their love in front of their family. Of course, there were still the disputes from the two but Splinter had come to realise that this was more of Raphael trying to uphold Leonardo's attention rather than meaningless fighting.

Mikey continued to ask question after question – '_Ooh, and when yous get married, can I be the bridesmaid?',_ or '_When yous get married, who'll walk down the isle?'_ and other questions along those lines – despite the sharp glares and threats Raph would shoot him afterwards. '_I don't see why you like him, Leo,'_ Mikey would grumble later on in the day, '_He's so… Grouchy.' _Leo would just roll his eyes at this.

That night, roughly two months after '_coming out'_ to Splinter, Raph had snagged Leo into his arms and managed to pull him down into a hug on the lounge, much to the blue clad ninja's dismay. Mikey was setting up for movie night excitedly, buzzing around them, though they took no notice. Leo tried to keep his focus on the television set, though Raph's constant nibbling on his throat was enough to get his blue eyes to wander.

"Raph," He grumbled half-heartedly as Raph decided to take another nip at his jaw line.

"Yo, guys! We're here!" Casey's voice boomed.

"Casey, shush!" April chastised.

Casey gave her a wary smile. Mikey came bounding towards the exit and greeted them happily, proudly showing them the popcorn he'd made. _'They're hardly burnt, too!'_ He'd exclaimed gleefully. Raph had gotten up from the couch then to call over Casey, and the two were soon wrestling across the ground, much to Splinter's dejection.

"Hey, Leo." April greeted as she sat by the lounge.

"Hey." Leo smiled, his blue eyes flickering from the TV to his red-head friend.

The two began to small talk quietly, filling in the time – '_how have you been?' 'Where's Donnie?' 'It's been cold lately,' 'the heater shut off yesterday, Mikey wouldn't stop complaining that his tail was going to freeze off,' _– until Mikey loudly announced that it was time for Movie Night to begin.

He summoned Donnie from his lab while everyone else had begun to seat themselves by the television. Casey and April sat side-by-side, April leaning her head on his shoulder. The two were handed a bowl of popcorn from Mikey. Raph re-joined his leaf-green lover on the couch and the two snuggled close as they had previously before; Mikey handed them a bowl of popcorn, too. Mikey and Donnie had then sat in between the two couples while Splinter sat on the old, battered recliner.

The time seemed to fly by and, before anyone knew it, the night was over. April yawned a goodbye, along with Casey, before the two took off. '_Oh, and Raph, Leo?'_ April had said, '_We went down to the farmhouse yesterday, to make sure everything's ready for you two.'_

The two had thanked them. Leo couldn't help the surge of unease that twisted within his stomach at the mention of the farmhouse. He couldn't believe that they were finally… _Doing it._ Mikey had snickered when he'd heard of it; that they were going to the farmhouse, alone. Raph had growled, '_We just need some alone time ta get away from yer stupid mouth, Mikey_.'

'_Sure, sure,'_ Mikey had laughed. Leo's stomach twisted further at the thought that Mikey might have really known what was going on, what he and Raphael were planning… Leo shook his head and refocused. There was no way Mikey knew. Donnie had started heading off for bed, leaving Mikey, fast asleep, on the lounge. Splinter bid Raphael and Leonardo goodnight before turning and heading for his own room. Raph's golden eyes flickered down to Leo's.

The two lovers stayed, lost in the other's eyes. Raphael held Leonardo's hands and the two's fingers entwined with each other's. Leonardo felt his breath leave his mouth and found himself unable to draw in another. He could feel Raph's warm body against his. Leo could also feel his own heart going crazy within his chest and wondered if Raphael's was doing the same.

"Love you." Raph mumbled.

Leo could feel his head hurting from the lack of oxygen and his heart going wild. He hated, and absolutely loved, the way Raph made him feel. He placed his arms around the back of Raph's neck, pulling his head down so that their foreheads touched. A small smirk found its way onto Raph's face as he leant down, cupping Leo's cheek with his hand, their lips touching. Their mouths widened, their tongues gliding over each other. Leo's spine arched, their plastrons gently scraping against the other. His head screamed for more and, for once, he realised what this 'more' was – _sex._

He wondered half-heartedly if sex would quench his thirst for Raphael's body, the intense need he felt when their mouths touched. Suddenly, at the sound of a wolf whistle, the two jerked apart. Mikey had woken up and decided to make his presence known. Unlike Leo, Raphael preferred to deal with his embarrassment through causing someone – Mikey, in most cases – pain. And so the chase began and Leo let out a sigh, disappointment lingering within him and his gut squeezing in embarrassment.

* * *

"Raphael." Splinter said. Everyone else was fast asleep. Anxiously, Raph walked to his father's door.

"Y-Yeah, Sensei?" Raph asked, trying his best to keep his cool.

"I need to speak with you."

Splinter gestured for Raphael to enter his room and his son did so hesitantly. His room was lit by candles all of which sent a soft glow throughout the room. Splinter sat and gestured for Raph to sit beside him.

"I believe it is time we have a talk." The rat announced apprehensively. Generally, he loved to talk to his sons but, well, this was a different kind of talk. A serious one. It was _the_ talk.

"A-About wot?" Raph questioned, though he was pretty damn sure he knew what this talk was going to be about, and that made him want to run off as fast as he could manage – and he'd never been one for running away, mind you.

"You know what I am talking about, Raphael." Splinter replied evenly, letting out a sigh, "And believe me, my son, that I am no more enthused about having this conversation then you are… But it must be had."

"Why?" Raph inquired desperately. This was the last thing on Earth he wanted to be doing. _The very last_.

"Because there are things you need to know before you have such an… activity. Things that you would not know." Splinter answered. Others – humans – generally had quite a few ways of learning about this. School, friends… The only real knowledge Raphael would have about – Splinter winced – sex, would be porn videos, which, whether Splinter liked it or not, Raphael would have seen… And porn videos were generally never very accurate when it came to such matters.

And so the talk began.

* * *

He couldn't believe that had just happened. _He'd just had "the talk"!_ Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Frick. Shell. Raph placed his hand to his forehead. As much as he wanted to hate having had it, though, Raphael was glad. Shell, he'd thought sex was as simple as just friggen' shoving his cock in and out… If he hadn't had that talk with Splinter, Leonardo's and his own first time would have been crud. Worst of all, he would've hurt Leo, and in the worst friggen' way.

Raph shook his head at the thought and opened Leo's door. His lover lay, half asleep, cuddled in his blankets.

"What took you so long?" Leo grumbled as his dark green lover neared, "Mikey shut up hours ago, so don't give me that shit."

Raph rolled his eyes. Leo had a tendency to swear and curse when he was tired and… Well, secretly, Raph liked that. Something about his lover's voice cursing just seemed kinda… Sexy.

"I was diggin' Mikey's grave." Raph lied, his tone as serious as he could manage.

Leo scoffed and nuzzled into his lover's throat, closing his eyes.

"Next time give me a heads up if ya're going to be a while. I hate bein' tired." Leo complained feebly.

"Yeah, yeah." Raph muttered, nuzzling into his lover, kissing his cheek, "Night, baby."

"Hmm…" Leo murmured, "Love you, Hothead."

* * *

Leo fiddled with the helmet anxiously, "I don't know about this, Raph. April said she could drive us."

Raph plopped the helmet onto Leo's head and told him not to be silly. He mounted his motorbike and gestured for Leo to get on behind him. Sighing, the blue clad ninja did so hesitantly, wrapping his arms around Raph tightly. They both wore thick black biker jackets and jeans since, well, somebody was bound to notice two giant mutant turtles riding around on a red motorbike. Leo squirmed as the shell cycle started up and Raph sped out of the garage and onto the busy streets of New York.

As much as he was… _Honoured,_ that Raph was allowing him on the beloved bike, Leo would have preferred another mode of transport. It wasn't that being on the bike scared the leader, it was more so that, well, Raph had never let him on the bike before. So being on it for the first time was… Making him apprehensive, was all. Raph had rolled his eyes when Leonardo had tried to explain this, of course, and had told the blue clad ninja to trust him.

And for some stupid reason, Leo did.

He trusted Raphael, as both his brother, and as his lover.

They sped past red lights and past drivers honking the horns of their cars until, finally, they were out of the busy streets of New York City and on their way to the farm house. By now, Leo had told Raph to 'slow down already' half a billion times. They were on the dirt road that lead to the farm house with bushland on both sides of them. It was getting towards dusk and the sunset was casting a soft fire-like pinkish-orange glow around them. Trees were darkening to a charcoal black against the orangey-amber coloured sky.

It was then that Raphael slowed down. Leonardo loosened his grip slightly and took a deep breath before looking around. They didn't come to the farm house often, though it was always a beautiful sight when they did. Leo looked upwards to the sky and watched as a flock of birds flew overhead, their silhouettes black in the orangey-amber – slightly pink – sky. The clouds that had dotted the sky turned purplish and stars began showing themselves amongst the moon. Sights like this were impossible in New York City, due to the overload of electronic lights that blocked out the night sky and its beauty.

"You a'ight?" Raph asked.

"Yeah." Leo replied.

The long grass waved with the breeze and stray leaves floated in the air. Leo could have sworn he saw a racoon dive into the bushes as the shell cycle drove past. He wished he could feel the soft breeze against his skin as Raph drove them towards the farm house, the warm yet cold breeze, soft, yet sharp all the same. Leo let out a small sigh and snuggled closer to his lover; he felt like he was in some sort of a movie, in one of the lulling, too perfect scenes.

Once they reached their destination and Raph finished parking within the barn, Leo got off of the bike, his legs unsteady from the long drive. Raph took Leonardo's and his own helmet and biker jackets, leaving them by the shell cycle before the two entered the farm house, turning on the lights. The farm house was more well-kept than the first time they'd been here, back in the winter after being defeated by the Shredder.

Letting out a small sigh, Leo went to start unbuttoning the light blue button up shirt Raph had insisted he wear. A pair of dark emerald green hands stopped him and he looked up into his lover's golden eyes.

"What are you doing, Raph?" Leo asked. He hated wearing clothes; they were always wrong for his body shape, on account of him being a humanoid turtle.

"Dats my job." Raph replied in a '_duh_' tone. He let go of Leo's hands and guided his leaf green lover backwards and against the wall. He then recaptured Leo's hands and placed them over his shoulders before placing his chin over Leo's head, his hands starting to unbutton his shirt.

Leo watched as Raph's hands undid every button, each one making his heart beat a tiny bit faster. Once all buttons were dealt with, Raphael's hands glided upwards over Leo's plastron, guiding themselves over Leo's shoulders, removing the shirt in the process.

"Not bad." Leo murmured.

Raph smirked despite himself and reached for the button of Leo's jeans, pushing them downwards and exposing Leo's legs. The leaf green ninja stepped out of the clothing.

"But… I think I could do better." Leo added.

"You do?" Raph questioned, "Now _that_, I'd like to see."

Leo smirked, "Challenge accepted."

He guided Raph back to where they'd been standing before. He then shoved Raph back, so that he landed rather roughly onto the couch. Leo then proceeded to prowl towards Raphael, who lay on the lounge, watching him lustfully. Leo placed his hands either side of his lover's head on the soft cushioning of the lounge, his legs pressing into the red clad warrior's sides. Raph wore a red shirt with black faded jeans.

Leo's hands slithered across his plastron, slowly raising so that the shirt went above Raphael's head. Leo kissed his plastron and then his jawline as he removed the piece of clothing. Raphael focused on the feeling of Leo's hands gliding across his body as he undressed him and the feeling of electricity it caused to surge through him. Leo's hands hovered over Raph's slit, touching it gently, before he removed his jeans in one swift movement. His hands then travelled around Raphael's neck and Leonardo gave his jaw a soft kiss.

"I like it when yeh take control, Leo," Raph smirked, gently caressing the back of his lover's head.

"Really?" Leo mused.

"Hmm." Raph gently kissed Leo's lips. The kiss was short and tender, sending butterflies into Leo's stomach.

They sat, entwined with each other, for a long time until, finally, hunger won over. They got up and Raph began cooking dinner. When Leo asked what he was making, he was shooed from the room and confined upstairs. Leo rolled his eyes and headed for the bathroom, deciding that he wouldn't want to be needing to leave Raphael, just because he needed to pee. Done with his 'business', he reached over to flush but felt himself freeze up. Was that… _blood?_ In his urine? Leo shook his head and stared at it apprehensively. A reddish-brown, blood-like substance lay underneath his urine, resting on the bottom of the pipe of the toilet.

Suddenly, he jerked forward and quickly flushed it. He watched as it disappeared within the pipes and promised himself that he would talk to Donnie about it later. _Later_. Taking a deep breath, he went to wash his hands and wandered around until Raphael finally said he could come downstairs.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Leo grumbled faintly. Raph chuckled.

Arriving at the dining room, Leo could feel his cheeks heating up.

"I thought you'd like it." Raph murmured weakly, avoiding eye contact.

The table had a white tablecloth over it which had been sprinkled with rose petals. The room was lighted by candles, which flickered over the walls and casted long drawled out shadows, so that the room was semi dark. The plates of food were set over red velvety material and the exquisite smell sent spasms of hunger into Leo's stomach. He looked over to Raph, who was still avoiding eye contact, and smiled weakly.

"Thanks."

"It… It was nothin'." Raph shrugged meekly.

The two sat by the table and began eating, talking between mouthfuls of the scrumptious food. When Leo stated Raph's tenseness aloud, Raph merely shrugged and said that romance wasn't really his 'thing'. Raph poured Leo 'wine' into his wine glass; '_It's only water,_' Raph had assured him. They talked quietly after mouthfuls of food and Leo wondered how Raph had managed to pull this off. Had he asked Casey and April to set this up? '_Oh, and Raph, Leo?'_ April had said, '_We went down to the farmhouse yesterday, to make sure everything's ready for you two.'_

April was a romantic, after all, and something about this setting, this idea, had her name written all over it. Leo briefly considered asking Raph but decided against it – he didn't want to ruin the mood, after all. Once they'd finished eating, Leo went to start cleaning up, only to be stopped by Raph; '_It's fine, Leo_.'

Leo hesitantly followed Raph upstairs to the bedroom but said that he wanted to go to the bathroom first. Leo nodded and watched as the red clad warrior headed for the bathroom before going to another one himself. He went to the toilet anxiously and, once again, the dark red liquid was there. Leo flushed before going to the sink. He wasn't going to let something as little as that ruin tonight. He splashed his face with water, gave his teeth a quick brush and took a moment to relax his wild heart. By the time Raph re-entered the room, Leo was sitting on the end of the bed, biting his bottom lip nervously.

"Hey, Fearless." Raph greeted, hiding his worries well. _What if he doesn't like it? What if I screw this up? What if-_

"Hey." Leo smiled. Suddenly, Raph could feel all his worries and doubts melting away. He smiled, too, before sitting beside his lover on the bed.

"Nervous?" Raph asked, his voice quiet and soft.

"… Yeah." Leo admitted sheepishly, leaning into Raphael's chest.

Throughout their time dating, they found showing affection towards each other or being intimate together they hard to do in front of the others. It wasn't so much the embarrassment, or the awkwardness, but the fact that they acted differently in moments like these. Leo felt free to admit when he was hurting, or scared. Raph felt free to show his soft side, to show he cared. When they were together, _they felt free_. Free to be themselves, one hundred percent.

And, for some reason, they couldn't quite do that in front of the others.

"… So…" Leo bit his lip again, risking a glance at Raphael, who coughed awkwardly.

Raph squeezed Leo's hand and gave his lover a sincere look, "Ya sure that, uh, this is what yer… Wot yer want?"

Leo nodded, "Definitely… I just…"

He shrugged meekly and looked away. How the shell were they supposed to do it, anyways? How did they start? What were they meant to do, afterwards? Damn it; he should've been more prepared, thought this out more…

Raphael smiled weakly, knowing what it was on Leonardo's mind. He leant forward, their mouths touching lightly. When Raph leaned back, he was met with Leo's blue stare watching him, begging for more. Raph leaned forwards and this time, the kiss they shared was heated, more intense. Leo felt himself being gently pushed back onto his shell and couldn't help the moan that escaped his lips when Raphael squeezed his tail. Raph lips left his briefly as the red clad warrior began to nibble at his throat, twisting his lover's tail. He felt the need to murmur something, 'dirty talk' Leo but knew he couldn't. Leo would find that way too 'dishonourable' or whatever; it would ruin the moment. So Raphael settled for listening to Leonardo moan and squirm beneath him.

Feeling his cock hardening within in him, Raph knew it was time for him to start. Remembering what Splinter had said about 'stretching out', wincing from the memory popping up here, when he was about to… Raph refocused and pushed Leo's body closer to the headboard. He widened his lover's legs and noticed Leonardo's confused gaze, though the blue clad ninja didn't question what was going on – he trusted him.

Raph readied his finger before slowly entering it into Leonardo, who tensed and involuntarily let out a pleasurable moan. Something told him that he'd be moaning a lot tonight, and that Raph would be enjoying every one of them. Raph let his finger travel inside the hole, widening it, readying it. Leo squeezed onto the covers of the bed and felt his spine arch. _Damn, damn, damn_. His breath seeped out of him and his brain fogged over.

"Ya like dat, Leo?" Raph questioned, not quite able to stop himself.

"Mmm… K-Keep… Keep going…"

Raph couldn't help but smirk at that, his lips forming a lopsided smile. He let his finger travel to the edges of his lover and listened to the heavenly chirr that came from him. Figuring that they were ready, that Leonardo's body was prepared for him, Raph let his cock slide out of his slit and could see Leo eyeing his anxiously. Carefully, he lowered it to his lover's body, worried. What if he messed this up? Taking a steadying breath, he lowered further and entered Leonardo. His lover's flesh throbbed around him, the sensation leaving him lost for words.

"Raphie," Leo moaned, his eyes squeezing shut, his heart hammering away.

"I-If yer want me ta stop, just say, a'ight? I don't wanna hurt yeh." Raph mumbled softly, letting himself sink in further. He pulled Leo's upper body towards himself and leant against his forehead.

"Leo, ya… Ya need ta relax… So fucking… Tight." Raph grumbled, struggling to move inside of the blue clad's body.

Leo nodded and took a deep breath, spreading his legs out more and trying his best to 'relax'. His mind felt fuzzed out, his worries seemed to have melted away and his heart was pounding in his ear slits. '_More_,' his heart, spirit and mind demanded, over and over again, '_Give me more._'

"Faster." He panted once Raphael had found a sort of rhythm to pumping in and out of him. Raph nodded and did as he was told, relishing the feel of slamming into Leonardo and listening to him moan not long afterwards. The two felt as though they were no longer on Earth, no longer truly existing anywhere. All awareness was gone as they moved simultaneously together. It was as if they'd merged, no longer two bodies but one – and that was heavenly.

"Faster." Leo panted once more.

"I'm tryin', babe." Raph assured, kissing Leonardo's jawline, moving faster, rougher.

"_Mmm_," Leo's spine arched once again as Raph's dick came slamming in, touching a sensitive side of himself he hadn't known was there, causing their plastrons to scrape against one another and a glorious moan escaped Leonardo's luscious mouth. Raph continued to pound on the sensitive skin, his mouth connecting with Leo's. Everything else became a heavenly blur from then, lasting for a divine eternity, until a loud moan finally escaped Raphael's lips, the sound, to Leonardo at least, was alluring and _fucking sexy_. Raph had pulled out of Leonardo and a white substance – cum – squirted onto his plastron.

Leo let out one last moan as he, too, cummed, though Raphael had snagged his lover's cock and now sucked on it, determined to milk Leonardo for everything he had.

"Fuck," Leo panted, his head throwing itself back. He relished the feel of Raphael's tongue and mouth sucking him clean, though exhaustion had now come over him. The two were soon panting side by side on the bed, hands interlocked.

"Love ya, Fearless," Raph gasped.

Leo managed to lift his body with his aching arms and let himself fall onto Raphael's plastron, "Love… Love you, Hot… Head…"  
His eyes fluttered close and a yawn escaped his lips. Raph chuckled and nuzzled into the top of the leaf green turtle's head.

* * *

"What do you think they're doing anyways?" Mikey asked, swivelling around on the desk chair within Donnie's lab.

"I don't know." Donnie shot his baby brother a glare, "And stop doing that already! You're going to brea-!"

_Crash_.

"Oops…" Mikey mumbled under his breath. His arm had collided with a hunk of metal, which was now scattered on the ground.

Donnie sighed; why did he even bother? Normally he would have shooed the orange clad brother from the lab but under these circumstances, Donatello could not find it within himself to do so.

"Sorry." Mikey murmured, shrinking into the backrest of the desk chair, his head the only visible appendage from over it.

"Don't sweat it, Mikey." Donnie sighed, "Just sit still, okay?"

After a long silence, Mikey re-asked his question.

"I mean, you don't think they'd… _Do it_, right?"

"No, I… Not yet. Not now." Donnie replied.

Mikey nodded hesitantly and let the sound of the crackling radio fill the room with sound.

* * *

Splinter rubbed his forehead and sighed. He'd been trying to meditate but thoughts of his eldest sons were flashing in his mind. Would the two have gone through with their initial plans? Splinter twitched at the thought. He accepted his sons, and loved them, of course. Any good parent would… But the thoughts of the two having… _sex?_

He shook his head and sighed deeply. He'd talked to Raphael because he'd known that the two were planning it, and that they'd go through with the idea at some point. Of course, Splinter could have talked to both of them and say he forbid it from happening.

But his sons had only just started being more comfortable being with each other in front of him. The tension was finally ebbing from the air. Besides, it was not as if anything could occur from this little… _Experience_ the two were sharing. Splinter sighed once more and put the candles within his room out. Meditation was going to elude him for tonight; that much was obvious.

All Splinter could hope was that his sons were fine and that they were not going too fast. After all, one year was not much time. Things could change a lot within the next couple weeks and it worried Splinter that their relationship would end up scarring them, though he let the thought slide.

They were his sons.  
He would love and accept them no matter what; that was his job.

Nodding to himself, Splinter headed to the lounge room, deciding to make use of the unusual silence and watch his soaps.

'_Now_,' Splinter thought, '_Let's see if Jane can rescue herself from the web of lies she has tangled herself in_.'

* * *

**A/N: I know that there's no need for a comma before the word 'and', but I prefer to have the comma there, so, yeah. **

**… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …  
I would like to thank everyone who reviewed: _fearlessleader72; Raigon; Pen-Woman; Zephorous; I Want to Fly (guest); eo (guest); AvisQuest9513; jlin (guest); kiraynn; and jin3000_. Each review made me smile and encouraged me to keep writing this. I haft to admit; I've become slightly obsessed with writing this now but sadly life has been getting in the way a lot lately. I will try to update as often as possible from now! :)**

**If you find any mistakes (etc.) please let me know so I can fix it. ****I hope everyone has enjoyed; please review :)**

**Petrichor out~**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: ****Purtroppo, io non possiedo TMNT (from Italian to English: Sadly, I don't own TMNT)**

*****NOTE* reference to the 2003 episode: "The Monster Hunter". Relevant info can be found if you search for 'Abigail Finn' on TMNTpedia. **

*****Also reference to the 2003 episode "Battle Nexus Championship". Also has info on TMNTpedia. **

* * *

**Last line of chapter 1 – **_Raph smiled weakly and the two fell asleep in each other's arms._

* * *

**Last line of chapter 2 – **'_Now_,' Splinter thought, '_Let's see if Jane can rescue herself from the web of lies she has tangled herself in_.'

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Once again, the sun began its descent, casting an amber glow over the farmhouse. Leonardo yawned and raised his heavy head.

"Raph?" He called out sleepily.

Frowning, he scanned the room but his lover was not to be seen. That was when the delicious smell of eggs and bacon reached his conscious and his stomach growled desperately. Swinging his legs off of the side of the bed, Leo stood up and headed downstairs. Raph was setting the plates of food down on the kitchen table when he came in.

"Oh, uh… Hey… I was just about ta come up and wake ya." Raph said, shrugging and avoiding Leonardo's gaze.

"Hmm," Leo replied, walking forwards and sitting across from Raph on the small circular table they'd sat at last night, wincing in pain.

"… Yer okay?" Raph asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, just… Just sore, I guess." Leo answered.

Raph nodded and the two began eating. The bacon was slightly burnt and the eggs were runny but to Leo's stomach, the food was paradise. When he thanked Raphael, the gesture was shrugged off. '_It was nothin'_.' Leo smiled weakly and continued to eat and, once again, when they were finished Raphael told him not to worry about cleaning it up, so he didn't. What he did worry about was the blood that had been appearing in his urine. Would it still happen? Was it serious? Worst of all: was it a sign he was dying? The thought made him want to throw up. No, it wasn't just the thought; _he was going to throw up_. He pushed past Raphael and collapsed by the toilet, puking. He ignored Raphael, who had rushed to his side, worry etched into the creases on his forehead.

Managing to get in a breath, Leo shook his head, "I-I'm fine."  
"Like shell yer fine." Raphael snapped, rubbing soothing circles into his lover's shoulders. He wondered if Leonardo had been sick all morning and cursed himself for not taking notice. Despite the blue clad ninja's protests that he was fine, Raph carried him to the lounge and lay beside him.

"I'm fine, Raph, really." Leo insisted, "That came out of nowhere."

"Whateva yeh say, Fearless." Raph murmured, nuzzling into the back of his neck.

Leo rolled his eyes and sighed, feeling the creases in his forehead smooth and the weight he felt on his shoulders lessen. Raphael, noting the looseness, smirked and began to nip at Leonardo's throat. Leo grumbled bitterly in complaint. As the night carried on, they eventually drifted outside under the starry night sky and sat out in the forest-land that surrounded the farmhouse. They could hear the faint crashing of a river nearby and the crickets chirping in the distance. The trees and surrounding bushland rustled in the wind and the moon shone down on them, casting a soft glow. Leo closed his eyes and leaned against Raphael's shoulder, placing one of his hands over Raphael's dark yellow plastron.

"I-I… I'd do anythin' for ya, Leo... Yeh know dat, right?" Raph whispered, trying to sound tough despite his soft tone.

"Mm," Leo confirmed.

The two once again stayed together, comforted by the other's presence, feeling no need for words or touches. The night drifted on; neither brother wanting for it to end. The night after this, they would be heading back to the lair and back under the stares of their family. Yawning, Leo snuggled closer to his dark emerald green lover, feeling at peace. It was nice to have the weight of being leader taken off of his shoulders and to not haft to worry. After all, he could trust Raph. He trusted Raph more than anyone else; Splinter included. Raph would never hurt him, never turn his back on him, and that made loving him and being with him so much easier. No worrying if the foot clan would catch them in a moment of weakness – kissing, hugging, lost in the other's eyes – because Raph was right there to protect him if something went wrong.

The mere thought was enough to make him smile and for butterflies to flutter within his stomach.

He thought of the time they'd first sort of admitted to loving each other... Sort of...

_"No, Raph, don't walk away from me!" I snapped, irritated, "We need to talk-!"  
"I don't haft ta do shit, Leo!" Raph snarled back, his golden amber eyes glinting. _

_"Splinter said-!"  
"I was dere, Leo! I know what he bloody said!" Raph's eyes narrowed. _

_"We need to sort this out, Raph! I want to know what's going o-!"_

_Something covered my mouth… Was that… Was that his lips, on mine? Was… Was he KISSING me? My heart flipped within my chest and Raph leaned back, close enough so that when he huffed his breath blew across my face. By the time I recovered from what had happened, Raphael had already taken off on his shell cycle_.

Leonardo smiled weakly at the memory. He and Raphael had been fighting a lot around that time and avoiding each other in practise. Splinter had taken notice of this and ordered for the two to sort the problem out. Leonardo had gone to the garage, wanting to know what was going on in his red clad brother's mind. After the kiss, Raph had ignored him as much as possible and Leo had been content with leaving things like that. Besides, what was he supposed to do, or say? Obviously, this had changed when Splinter had demanded to know what was going on and-

"Hey, Leo?" The Brooklyn accent cut through the leader's thoughts. When Leo hummed in recognition, Raph asked, "W-What ya thinkin' 'bout?"

"You… Us… This…" Leo replied softly, his eyes still closed and his body still pressing against Raph's. The red clad warrior nodded and smiled weakly, leaning back on his hands, Leo's body curled across his plastron.

Later on, Raphael opened his eyes only to realise that they must have fallen asleep in each other's arms, because the sun was now casting sprays of light throughout the otherwise dark sky. An amber hue came over the forest and the sky was lighting up, going through the colours of gold, orange, pink, purple and blue. Raph looked down to Leonardo, who slept soundly on his chest. Having had Raph as a mattress, he wasn't covered in mud or dirt. Raphael was not so lucky. Sighing, the red clad warrior picked up his lover and carried him towards the farm house, dropping him off by the lounge. Raph then proceeded towards the shower.

The warm water washed off the dirt and cold which his body had retrieved throughout the night. He scrubbed the smears of mud off of his body and flicked off the flecks of grass that stuck to him like a tired Leonardo would. He raised his head so that the water bounced off his face. When a cold draft invaded his shower, he turned his head to see Leo peeking in from the curtain. '_Mind if I join?_' He'd asked. Raph had only smiled, which Leonardo took as a yes. He joined his lover and was instantly greeted by a deep, passionate kiss. Surprised by the deepness of it, Leo pulled back and gasped for his breath. Raph smirked, glad to have taken the usually-alert, fearless leader by surprise. It was something he was becoming all too good at, in the leader's opinion.

"Raphie," Leo grumbled half-heartedly as his lover nipped at his neck. He let out a sigh, "You know, I'm starting to consider the fact you're a vampire or something."

Raphael chuckled lowly in response, the sound sending lustful shivers down Leonardo's spine. Raph trailed his hands down his lover's arms and watched as the water rippled over the both of them. He smiled at the gleam the water and light were causing on his skin. '_You're beautiful, ya know dat?_' Raph had murmured, answered only by Leo's darkening cheeks. The night came all too soon.

"So where's our gear, anyways?" Leo asked as they prepared to leave, finally washing the dishes which had thankfully been rinsed off in the nights prior. They changed the bedding, too, and cleaned anything they'd used.

"I think we left it by the shell cycle." Mischievousness glinted in the red clad's turtle's amber eyes. Leo frowned in confusion before realising that their gear being by the shell cycle meant that they'd been naked the whole time they'd been here; more naked than usual, at least.

"Ah… I guess I'll go get it, then?" Leonardo suggested.

"Don't bother. We'll be headin' off soon. Just grab da clothes. In deh dryer." Raph replied.

Leonardo hummed in acknowledgment and set off to do so. The two were soon back on the shell cycle, Raphael speeding, faster than last time, through the trees, despite Leo's complaints to use the road. Raphael, of course, didn't listen. He loved the way Leonardo squirmed and tightened his grip around him when he went '_too fast'_. Leonardo continued to mutter that the red clad warrior was a maniac.

_Shouting._

Raphael frowned and pulled over, quickly shutting off the engine of the shell cycle, turning to look to Leonardo, though it was hard to read his expression from behind the helmet. Leo edged towards the sound and the two of them could see men in white coats, surrounding the area. They were taking pictures of the area and talking to – _Abigail Finn_. The two weren't present to actually meet her but Donnie had shown them photos.

A while back, Casey's neighbour had apparently managed to videotape Mikey in his backyard; luckily, the footage had been blurry and vague. Finn, a 'monster hunter' came to the farmhouse, wanting to capture the 'monster' and prove to people she was worth being taken seriously. Mikey and Donnie had tried to retrieve the tape but had accidentally been trapped, managing to escape before Dr. Abigail Finn identified them. Along with Casey, they later disguised themselves as the infamous "_Green Man_" to scare off Abigail but coincidentally, the Green Man _was_ real and Finn captured it and alerted the press. The guys were later able to swap the Green Man with Casey and retrieved the tape. When the press arrived, Casey accused her of harassment as a result, her reputation was ruined.

They hadn't seen her since, _until now_.

There were a few pin boards, with pictures of both humans and turtles, and vague sketches of what… Looked a lot like the turtles themselves. Leonardo and Raphael glanced at each other uneasily.

"Hey! You two! In the bush!" A harsh voice snapped.

* * *

Donnie couldn't help but roll his eyes at his all too enthusiastic brother. He couldn't blame Mikey for being excited for their eldest brothers' return, of course. He'd missed them, too. Splinter was in his room meditating and had told Donatello to alert him when Raphael and Leonardo returned home. Donnie had nodded and replied respectfully, '_Of course, Father_.' Michelangelo had taken off on his skateboard, wanting to burn off his extra energy. Donnie had a sneaking suspicion that the orange clad turtle had either made himself some coffee, or had been eating bucket loads of sugar. Deciding to spend his time in his lab, Donnie headed off for the said room. Within time, he was looking over blood samples and things of their biology – something he hadn't done for a very long time. He'd gotten the blood from his brothers through IV's a while ago, much to their dismay, and was now looking over it. He couldn't help but think how this was actually, well, _creepy_.

But he needed to do it.

Their biology was completely new and he couldn't rely on just human or just turtle information. He needed to do testing on their blood, find things out for himself. It was his way of contributing to his family. Growing up, he'd always been – and even now he was – more into technology but after the Battle Nexus incident where he'd felt so helpless, not knowing how to treat or help his brother… He'd started taking more interest into biology and medicine and the way their unique mutated bodies worked.

It was when he was going over Leonardo's blood that he found something different, something… Was this a side effect from the mutagen? Something to do with them being turtles? No, but…. Donnie shook his head. It couldn't be. Frowning, he decided that once Leo got back, he would make some more tests before making a conclusion to his find.

"It can't be…" Donnie muttered.

* * *

"Hey! You two! In the bush!" A harsh voice snapped.

"What now, Fearless?" Raph muttered.

The leader sighed, "The others'll be waiting for us but…" He shook his head, "We can deal with this later, get Donnie to scrape up information. For now, we're going home. Get back to the bike."

"Come here!" The harsh voice demanded.

Raph sighed. He wanted to stay and find out what was going on but after the heavenly night at the farmhouse, he didn't want to ruin the good mood he and Leo were in by not listening. And so the two ninjas dove back to the shell cycle and sped off, hearing faint shouting behind them.

* * *

"What's taking them so _loooooong?"_ Mikey complained.

Donnie rolled his eyes and once again replied that it was just that the farm house was far away. Just as the explanation left his mouth, his computer beeped, alerting him that the garage door had opened. '_Finally,'_ Mikey groaned, smiling happily. Donnie and Splinter rolled their eyes and the three headed towards the elevator that would take them to the garage, where Leonardo and Raphael now were.

* * *

Raphael pulled into the abandoned warehouse, which they used as a garage, and parked, much to Leonardo's joy. Raph chuckled and told his lover not to look so relieved, earning a sharp glare. '_Maybe I wouldn't be if you had just slowed down'_. The elevator entered the room, meaning that the others had come up to greet them. Mikey exclaimed that it had been forever and wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders. Raphael rolled his eyes and growled, shoving Mikey's arm off from around him, saying that it had only been two days. Leo rolled his eyes and, once the family had greeted each other, everyone headed back down to the lair. Mikey had set up dinner for everyone – it was getting towards sunrise and they generally slept throughout the day, for obvious reasons; them only being able to venture out at night, etc. Mikey had cooked up lasagne, peas with corn, and sausages. Due to lots and lots of practise cooking, the food was scarcely burnt or undercooked.

"So what did you guys get up to, anyways?" Mikey chirped as he shoved a particularly large chunk of lasagne into his mouth.

Splinter almost choked on his mouthful of food but managed to keep it down. Leonardo felt like dying right then and quickly placed food into his mouth so that he wouldn't haft to answer. Raphael somehow managed to keep calm, '_It ain't none a yer business, Mikey.'_ Mikey went to complain but was stopped by Splinter, who told his orange clad son to give his brothers some space. Mikey pouted dejectedly but soon regained his cheerful mood. Raph desperately wanted to go to bed; he was exhausted from the long day and wanted nothing more than to hold Leonardo close to him as they fell asleep. Too bad Splinter had this whole shitty idea in his head that families were meant to bond at the table. Of course, Raphael didn't always mind this rule – that everyone was to eat at the table – but there were always times the rule got under his skin.

When dinner was finally over, though, Leonardo shook his head and said he wanted to talk to Donnie first, about what they'd seen. However, when Raph said that he'd come, too, then, since he'd been there, Leo shook his head once more. '_I'll be up in a second, Raph. Keep my spot warm_.' Raph grumbled bitterly on his way up to bed. Call it childish but he friggen' hated it when he was told 'no'. He contemplated going to hijack the conversation but decided he was too damn tired anyways, and knew that if he were to do so, Leo would kick him out of his bed for the night. So Raph headed for Leonardo's bed, alone.

* * *

Leo hesitated by the door of Donnie's lab.

"Oh, Leo, perfect timing. I wanted to talk to you." Donnie said, sounding reluctant, "I, uh, need a blood sample from you. I-Is that okay?"

Leo nodded and entered the room. The two were silent as Donnie grabbed a needle to insert into Leo. The blue clad ninja was by far the genius' favourite patient; he was the only one who didn't squirm and try to get away. The two knew that the other had something to say but neither dared to speak first. When Donatello was finished getting the blood sample, he thanked Leo before berating himself for doing so. _'Thanks for your blood, Leo'_. What the shell? Donnie sighed at himself and put the sample in a safe place before asking Leonardo what had brought him to the lab in the first place.

"Is something wrong?" Donnie asked.

"S-Sort of, I guess… Um…" Courage flailing, Leonardo shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Uh, it's… It's probably nothing…"

Donnie rolled his eyes and commented on the concern it, whatever 'it' was, had caused Leo. Obviously, if it had concerned him, it probably was something. Leo nodded and chuckled nervously; '_I guess you're right._' Donnie repeated his question, asking what was wrong. Leo hesitated. Maybe the blood problem had stopped itself? Maybe he'd just been seeing things? Too anxious to talk about the blood-in-urine predicament, he talked about what he'd seen with Dr Finn instead.

"By the farmhouse?" Donnie's brow furrowed, "Are you sure?"

Leo nodded, "You don't think…?"

"I-It's possible that she found the green man and that's why those men are there but…" Donnie shook his head and used his desk chair to speed towards his computer. His hands became green blurs as he typed into it. When Leo asked what he was doing, Donnie shook his head and shooed Leo from the room, saying he needed to concentrate. Leo frowned but did as he was told; after all, Raph was waiting for him. He said goodbye to Donatello, who hummed in response, before heading towards his room… His _empty_ room? He frowned and walked towards his bed to find a note with Raphael's scratchy writing saying '_my bed 2night_'. Biting back a groan of complaint, he slumped towards his lover's room.

Raphael lay on his hammock, glancing up from a motorbike magazine when Leonardo entered. Joining his red clad lover on the stupid hammock, Leo grumbled, saying that Raph _knew_ he hated using the hammock, and that he was a friggen' bastard. Raphael chuckled at this and asked what Donnie had said about the Dr Finn situation. Leo shrugged '_he kicked me out of the lab, saying he needed to concentrate_.'

"Figures." Raphael muttered humorously.

Sighing, Leo joined Raph on the hammock, which swayed as he did so. Leo shot Raph a glare, making it as obvious as he could that he was not happy about the bedding arrangements for the night. Raph only laughed, giving his lover a small kiss on his beak. Leonardo snagged the motorbike magazine from his lover - it was the kind that had the girl with too-large-boobs on the cover - and tossed it across the room. _'I thought you said you threw those things out?'_ He snapped. Raph defended himself by saying that it had good information about motorbikes and that it was '_irreplaceable_'. Leonardo rolled his eyes and sighed. The two snuggled close. Raphael's arms, bulging with muscles, wrapped around him, protruding heat. '_So, um, Raph?'_ Leo mumbled after a long comfortable silence. When the red clad warrior hummed in response, Leo asked tentatively, '_W-What's… What's the next, uh… You know… Step? I-I mean…?'_ Raphael nodded, showing he understood.

"'M not sure yet, Bubs." He mumbled.

"'Bubs'?" Leo repeated, raising his eye ridge.

Raph rolled his eyes and nodded, smiling crookedly, "Bub. Bubby. Ya know, as in baby."

"I know what it means, I just…" Leo sighed and shook his head, his stomach aching, "I'm hungry."

"Wot?"

"_I'm hungry_. I need food." Letting out a sigh, Leo sat up, frowning when the hammock swayed.

"But you just ate," Raph said pointedly.

His red clad lover went to protest further but Leonardo shook him off. '_I'll be right back… Bubs._' Raphael grumbled but otherwise stopped his complaints. Leo rubbed his forehead as he went down the stairs, wondering where the sudden urge to eat had come from. He ran his tongue over his mouth. Thirsty. He needed a drink. Arriving at the kitchen, Leonardo pulled out a bag of chips – burger rings – and a carton of orange juice. He began eating and drinking then, not wanting to bring the food up to the bedrooms. The last thing he wanted was for ants and bugs to start crawling into Raphael's room, although the red clad warrior sprayed enough bug spray to kill off an army of said creatures. Once done, Leo headed back towards his lover's room. He walked to the hammock, which swayed as he got on.

Raphael grumbled something which Leonardo didn't quite catch. Large dark emerald green arms wrapped around him, bulging with muscles. Leonardo sighed but didn't bother to squirm or to whine, to whinge or complain.

"Good night, Hot-head," Leonardo murmured.

"Night, Baby." Raphael replied. Leonardo rolled his eyes at the nickname.

* * *

Leonardo awoke again for what felt the millionth time that night. He couldn't sleep on a hammock. He just couldn't. How Raphael could boggled his mind. Letting his leaf green legs slip onto the floor and guide him out of the room silently, Leonardo wandered through the lair without much purpose. He peaked in on Mikey to see the orange clad turtle asleep, mask-less, curled up under his bed covers. Leo re-shut the door and headed for Donnie's room – but found it empty. Leonardo let out a tired sigh and headed for Don's lab. Donnie looked at him as he entered. Before Leonardo could manage a word, Donatello spoke;

"Don't be mad, Leo. Please don't be mad. I just… This is important, okay?" Donnie said, his voice trembling slightly, the tone higher pitched than usual. Leonardo stared at him sceptically. "I just… I need to know what you and Raph did, when yous were at the farm house. Please. It's important."

Leonardo's heart flipped. Was Donnie serious?  
"Don, that's-,"

"I know you don't want to tell me but you need to. You need to answer me," Donnie's voice was becoming frantic, "Did you and Raph… Did yous… _Do it_?"

"_Donatello_-!"

"It's important, Leonardo!" Donnie snapped. His features softened as soon as they had hardened and his voice turned pleading once more, "_Please_."

Leonardo let out a dreary sigh and shuffled his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. He couldn't lie, he knew that. If this was important – and apparently it was – he couldn't lie. He mumbled something. When asked to speak up, Leonardo half groaned before nodding.

"Yeah, okay? Yes, we did. We did it." There. He'd said it.

Donnie let out a sigh and nodded, "Please don't be mad at me for this, Leo, please, but… I need you to use this."

He held up a long white object, the same length as his hand, with a blue end. Peering closer, Leonardo realised what this was. '_No_,' Leo bit out flatly, '_Donnie, that's-_,' He was cut off by Donnie's pleas. Donatello told him of what he'd found within the leader's blood. He told Leonardo of the XY sex-determination system, saying that this was how the gender of an individual was determined, though of course some species had different- but that wasn't what mattered right now.

"Your blood isn't XY anymore," Donnie stated feebly, "Now its XX, which- that means-… Leo, you're… You're a girl."

"And you think I'm pregnant." Leo bit out, trying to hide his raging emotions by masking them with anger.

"… Yeah."

* * *

**A/N: ****Thank you to the six people who have reviewed chapter 2: _LeosVamp_, _tmntlover2013_,_ Mewfem_, _HowToBeCreative, ariesdragon2000_ and _Pen-Woman_. **

**A special thanks to _Pen-Woman_ and _HowToBeCreative_.**

**Thank you _Pen-Woman_ for taking the time to review both chapters. I appreciate that so very, very much :)**

**And thank you again, _HowToBeCreative_ for your words; you've made me very, very happy with them. :D**

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**Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yes, I am alive. Yes, I have been sucked into a portal of which transported me to Marshmallow Kingdom on the Marshmallow Planet, with pink fairy-floss/cotton-candy bunnies and rainbow coloured unicorns. Yes, I do return with a new chapter. Please enjoy, sorry for the wait, and please, please, _please_ review! :) **

**DISCLAIMER: ****I not own TMNT. **

* * *

**Chapter 3 – **_"And you think I'm pregnant." Leo bit out, trying to hide his raging emotions by masking them with anger._

_"… Yeah."_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Mrph," Raphael's golden-amber eyes opened groggily. He could feel Leonardo below him in his dark emerald arms. He bent his head down and kissed the back of his lover's head, "Mornin'."

Raphael had expected for him to have snuck off back into his own bed during the night and was glad his suspicions were proven false. Leonardo hummed in response to the greeting but didn't turn to face him. Raphael frowned. '_Yo ain't mad at me, are ya?'_ He had asked tentatively. Wait, why the shell was he nervous? They always slept on Leo's bed, all he wanted was for them to use his bed for one damn night. Why the shell would Leo be mad at him for that?

"My stomach hurts." Leonardo mumbled, not meeting his lover's eyes. His voice sounded hoarse and he struggled to keep it from wobbling. '_Oh_.' Raphael had mumbled. Leo let out a sigh and closed his eyes. How was he meant to tell him? How had the pregnancy test even- What would- Why- _Deep breath_. In and out. Leonardo turned to face his lover slowly and let himself drown within the soft yet fierce golden orbs. Raphael's hand cupped his cheek and he placed his hand over it, not wanting the moment to end. '_Ya gonna be okay fer practise?'_ The blue clad ninja shrugged in response.

He couldn't practise, he knew that. The baby could get hurt if he tried; if he got hit in the stomach or something. That's if he even had a baby. Perhaps it wasn't even alive? The thought worsened his mood on the whole situation. He could have a corpse in his body. Great. But even if it was alive, or wasn't… Giving birth… His body was a _turtle's body_ – it wasn't made for giving live births. It was made for laying eggs. Leonardo knew he shouldn't had run off like he had.

But he'd needed to. He'd wanted to run away – but unfortunately, you can't run away from your own body… But the blue clad ninja had tried, and failed. He'd trudged home, returned to his lover's bed, his mind buzzing with thoughts, each one blurred by another.

"I'm gonna go get some breakfast. Ya comin'?" Raphael asked in his usual Brooklyn-accent.

Leonardo began to sit up and faked a pained groan. When his lover placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from getting up, he shook it off and muttered that he was fine. '_Don't lie ta me, Leo. Wassup?_' Leo snapped that he wasn't staying on the hammock and this time the red clad warrior did not stop him. '_Leo, if ya ain't well, ya shouldn't be standin' up,' _Raphael informed. Leonardo replied that he knew this. Raph led him to his own room and waited until the blue clad ninja was tucked under his blankets before heading off for breakfast, saying that he'd bring some food up. Leonardo nodded. Food sounded nice.

* * *

The first thing Mikey noticed as he began serving breakfast was Leonardo's lack of presence. He asked where the blue banded ninja was.

"He ain't feelin' well." Raphael replied simply. He wondered if Leo had been feeling sick ever since the last night at the farmhouse. Could that be a result of them having sex? He'd heard that illnesses could be passed through sexual activities but hadn't dwelled on the idea; Splinter hadn't, either, obviously, since he hadn't mentioned it during their… '_Talk_'.

"Is that so?" An underlying coat of concern lay within the rat's tone. It wasn't so much that Leonardo was sick, rather than the fact that he had obviously agreed to stay in bed and, possibly, even miss practise. This was not something Leonardo would usually do, even under Raphael's influence – love had its limits, after all.

Raphael gave a small nod. '_Said his stomach hurts_.' Donnie shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. Should he say anything? No, no… Leo would deal with this. This was something Leo needed to tell the family. This was Leo's news. The purple banded turtle felt a deep sympathy for his eldest brother swell within his chest. There was one question in particular that was weighing down on Leonardo, which was constantly slipping into his mind as well:  
_How would Raphael react?_

Leonardo had shaken his head, muttering that Raph would run off, that he couldn't tell him, that he didn't want to. '_You need to_,' Donatello had reasoned. Tears had swelled in the leader's eyes; a rare sight. '_I'm sorry_.' Donnie had whispered. He was sorry that Leonardo had to face this, and sorry that he had no way to help. He couldn't promise that Raphael wouldn't run off, he wouldn't be able to soothe the rejection Leonardo would surely feel if this were to happen – and the leader seemed sure it would. '_I _know_ Raph, Donnie,_' Leo had said hoarsely, '_He'll run off. Shell, I'd probably have run off, if I could_…' Donatello doubted this. No matter how worried or unsure the blue clad ninja felt, he would never turn his back – shell – on his family. Yes, he might try to run away – but he would come back. He could never turn his shell on the family.

Especially not Raphael.

He didn't state this aloud.

Of course, Leo had ended up running off, near hysterics – not that Donnie could blame him. He felt like doing the same. He was scared, worried, frustrated… Mikey chattered throughout the whole meal, despite the daggers Raphael continuously glared at him; Mikey knew that Raph would not act out right in front of Splinter and knew that Raphie-boy would be releasing his anger on him during practise – but he couldn't bring himself to care. '_Hey, Don, you okay?_' The sprightly turtle asked, '_You look kinda spaced out_.' Donatello jumped at the sudden sound of his own name and looked to face Mikey, '_W-What?_' Michelangelo laughed and took the purple clad's distance as a sign of staying up all night on some new rad invention. _Maybe a rocket-booster-powered skateboard?_ Mikey thought hopefully. After breakfast, Raphael brought Leonardo up a serving of food.

"Hey," Raphael greeted.

"Hey," Leo replied as his red clad lover placed his food upon his bedside table, "Thanks."

Raph nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, uncertain. Leonardo began to eat but kept his eyes on the red clad warrior, knowing that look. Eventually the silence dragging on too long for either two of the turtles' liking, Raph asked quietly, '_So… Y-Ya feelin' any betta?_' Leonardo nodded, saying that the food had helped but that he should stay in bed; Donnie wouldn't want him up straight after feeling unwell. Raph nodded with a chuckle. A knock at the door alerted the two, who looked up to see their orange clad brother poking his head in. '_Time for practise,_' Michelangelo stated. Raph nodded and, despite wanting to kiss his lover goodbye, gave Leonardo's hand a squeeze before exiting with Mikey chatting alongside him as he went.

Leo stared at the closed door for a moment before letting out a rough sigh and hitting himself in the head, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Should have said something. Should have just told him. How long had they sat there in silence? He'd had an open opportunity _right there_, practically yelling for him to get it over and done with, tell Raph his and Donnie's suspicion; that he, Leonardo, was pregnant – _and he'd failed to say one damn word!_

Sighing, his forehead creased with frustration, Leonardo continued eating his breakfast.

* * *

He was aching all over. He hated when Splinter worked them this damn hard. He should've stayed with Leo, said he'd keep him company or whatever. Grumbling bitterly, Raph ran one of his hands along his arm. He'd managed to scrub off his sweat in the shower. The shower, of which, Leonardo hadn't joined him in. Raphael let out a sigh and continued walking.

He wondered if anybody else had noticed Mikey's weird attitude lately. Not attitude but… What was it even? There was something odd going on, Raphael knew that. He kept glancing at him, a frown on his face but then, before Raph could say anything, Mikey would turn back to the TV as if it'd never happened. It was friggen' infuriating and Raph was getting bloody sick of –,

"_You need to tell him, Leo." _Raphael recognised this as Don's voice.

_"I-I know, I know."_ Leonardo's voice, unusually shaky, responded.

Raphael raised his eye ridge. Tell him what? His mouth twitched into a frown. Donnie and Leo, alone, together, in dark room, saying that he needed to be told something? They wouldn't… They weren't… Was Donnie even gay? He'd never shown an interest in guys. He'd never seemed interested in Leo, other than in brotherly terms. Besides, Leo wouldn't cheat on him… Would he?

* * *

"Hey, Don," Raph spoke, his voice steely.

Donatello jumped in shock and his hand flew to his chest, where his heart was fluttering madly. '_You scared me_,' He muttered, managing a weak smile. Deciding to cut straight to the point, Raphael demanded to know what Don had been speaking to Leonardo about. '_I know what I 'eard, Don. Don't try and deny it. What's he hidin', huh?_' Donatello shook his head, saying that it wasn't his place to say, that he needed to ask Leonardo. Raphael threatened to beat the green out of him but Donnie firmly held his damn ground. Growling, Raph turned and stormed off from the lab.

"I need ta tell 'im, huh? Fine, then." Raph growled.

* * *

Leonardo sat hunched over on his bed, his arms over his knees. How to tell him, how to tell him… Donnie was right, he needed to say something now, as soon as possible – but how? Dammit. He needed to think. He needed a solution. He couldn't just blurt it out, could he? Knowing Raph, it would probably be best to do so – to cut to the chase. He sighed and rubbed his creased forehead.

His door opened and he looked up to see none other than Raphael himself.

"Hey."  
"Hey."

Leonardo didn't dare meet his eyes and felt his stomach swirling. He bit his lip.

"So, what were ya and Don talkin' 'bout earlier?" The red clad warrior asked, approaching the bed slowly.

"What?" Shit, what had Raph heard?

"What. Were. You. And. Don. Talkin'. About. Earlier?"

Shit. Okay, deep breath, this was it…

"I was, um… Meaning to… To tell you… I…"

When Leonardo did not elaborate or continue, Raphael crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes flashed. Leonardo gulped. Just spit it out, Leo, its going. To be. Okay. Everything is going to be fine. Just spit it out.

"_Ahem_." Raph coughed.

Leonardo squeezed his eyes shut, "RaphI-I-I'mpregnant."

"I didn't catch dat."

"I'm pregnant."

"You're… You're… _What?_"

"Pregnant." Leonardo's heart dropped. There. He'd said it. Ugh, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. Should he say something else?

"What?" Raphael's voice was quiet, weak. Leonardo chanced looking at him. The red cladded warrior stared at him, his arms now loose at his sides. His jaw hung open, moving as though speaking – but no sound came out. Leonardo breathed in deeply:

Here it came…

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to the nine people who have reviewed chapter 3: _Pen-Woman, Turtlefanforlife1982, ariesdragon2000, HowToBeCreative, Cyborg'sWife, tmnlover2013, Amy Hamato, chamberkiller_ and _KMCCL3, candylover2558, kiraynn, Donatello24, LunarLotis and dondena_. Your reviews have inspired me and coaxed me away from the Marshmallow Universe! :)**

* * *

**Also, if you go on my profile there is a poll asking which is your favourite turtlecest couple/pairing. You are allowed to select however many pairings you would like. _(please go onto my profile and find the poll to vote, if you are interested; this may persuade my future uploading's of tmnt tcest fanfictions)_**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: ****I not own TMNT. **

* * *

**Chapter 4 – **_His [Raph's] jaw hung open, moving as though speaking – but no sound came out. Leonardo breathed in deeply:_

_Here it came…_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"I didn't catch dat." Raphael said. He could feel his breath caught within his throat. If Leo was cheating on him… If… No. No, Leo wouldn't do that to him…

"I'm pregnant."

The red clad warrior was certain he'd said something in reply but couldn't quite figure out what. '_I'm pregnant_.' The words echoed within his mind.

"Pregnant." Leonardo repeated.

"What?" Dammit, no, he didn't mean that – don't bloody say it again. _Pregnant. Pregnant. __**Pregnant!**_

"Dat ain't possible!" Raph snapped, feeling his mind numb, "It ain't _possible_, Leo!"

"Raph, please-,"  
"Take it back." Raph spat, feeling his heart hammering against his plastron, "_Take it back!_"

Leonardo shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Take it back, Leo!"

"I can't."

"Take. It. _Back!"_  
"I _can't!_"

Silence filled the room, pushing against them, making it hard to breathe. Leonardo looked up once more but Raphael did not meet his gaze, so the blue clad ninja lowered his own. _Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant_. It's not possible – they were turtles, Raph spat. Leonardo nodded – he knew this. Raph questioned how would he know, and Leonardo replied that he had taken a pregnancy test. Raph shook his head, spitting angrily; _pregnancy tests don't work on turtles, Leo!_

"I know – but we're not turtles, are we?" Leonardo replied weakly.

"In case you haven't noticed it yet, Leo; _we're not human, either!_" Raph spat, "So pregnancy tests don't mean shit!"

"They work on chimpanzees." Leonardo mumbled.

"Dammit, we ain't chimpanzees, either, Leo!"

Leonardo didn't reply. Raphael stormed around the room. No, no, no. Not happening. This was not fucking happening. This was fucking stupid. This wasn't fucking possible. He couldn't breathe – he needed air. He turned for the door. He heard a sound – a sob? – escape from Leonardo but kept going. He needed air. He needed space. _He couldn't breathe!_

* * *

Nine o'clock. Ten o'clock. Eleven. Twelve. One AM. Two AM. Three.

"Leo, you need to sleep." Donnie reasoned.

"I will." Leonardo replied.

Donnie let out a sigh. He had seen Raphael run from the lair. So had Splinter and Michelangelo. When they had asked Leonardo what was wrong he had said that Raphael had needed some air. Of course, Sensei knew that that had been a lie – but didn't press on the matter, and, for that, Leo was thankful. Donnie, of course, knew what this had been about. Leo's pregnancy. Donatello had stayed in Leonardo's room to offer comfort, under the guise of making sure Leo didn't try and get up to go look for Raph while he was 'sick'.

Hearing a soft cough from the doorway, the two looked up to see Splinter at the doorway.

"Donatello," Splinter said, his voice quiet, "Could you please give us a minute?"

"Um… Y-Yeah, okay. Right. Um…" Donnie hesitated, flashed Leo a quick smile and then darted from the room.

Splinter turned to face his blue clad son.

"I know what you're going to say." Leo whispered, "And don't. Please, just don't."

"I was not going to say a thing, my son." Splinter replied softly, sitting beside the blue clad ninja and wrapping an arm over the back of the turtle's shell.

Leonardo scoffed in disbelief. He kept his gaze focused on his lap and away from his father's eyes.

"Leonardo-,"

"Please don't."

"Leonardo-," Splinter pressed.

"Please don't." Leonardo repeated.

"Leonardo," Splinter said, pressing a finger to his son's lips, "Just let me say one thing, okay?"

The blue clad ninja nodded; hesitant. Splinter used his hand to raise Leonardo's face, their eyes locking.

"It is okay to cry."

And so, ever so hesitantly, Leonardo did.

* * *

He could not breathe. Dammit. He couldn't breathe. His lungs were burning. His body ached. He leaned against the wall and placed his hands upon his knees. Could… Not… Breathe… He gulped in lungful's of air. Dammit. Shit. He shouldn't'a left Leo like that. Dammit. Leo was gonna be shitty. Dammit, he was gonna be beyond shitty. He was gonna be downright pissed. There mere thought was terrifying. Raphael shook his head. Hadn't it just been the other day he had told Leo he'd always be there for him? Dammit. But, well, _pregnant?_ He'd been allowed to run off, hadn't he? He'd needed space. He needed some time to digest it.

But, ugh, he couldn't be a dad. No. He wouldn't be – he refused to be. He couldn't… Raphael shook his head. There was no way in shell he could be a dad! He wasn't… He'd… He'd fail. He'd screw it up. He'd screw the kid up. Dammit. No. He couldn't be a dad. He couldn't go back. Looking up, Raphael noted that the lair was north. He started running south, with no intentions of turning back around any time soon.

* * *

Leonardo sniffed and rubbed his beak with his arm. He breathed in and out deeply.  
"Are you okay, my son?"

"I think so."

Damn his voice was weak. _'Pull yourself together, Leo!'_ He rubbed at his eyes which were now sore from the waterfall of tears. He leaned backwards from his father's embrace and managed a weak 'sorry'.

"You do not need to apologise, Leonardo."

Leo nodded.

"D-Do you… Do you think Raph'll be back soon?" He asked quietly.

"I am not sure." Splinter replied, concern tinting his voice, "He has never stayed out this long before… Besides, in case you have forgotten, I do not know why he left, which is quite an important factor."

Leonardo hesitated.

Splinter placed a hand on his son's shoulder, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, "You do not haft to tell me now if you do not wish to, Leonardo."

Leonardo nodded. A memory flashed within his mind:

_Three months earlier…_

_Both Raphael and Leonardo were huddled in the latter's room, the door shut firmly. Raphael had one arm draped over his lover's shell and one hand gripping the blue clad ninja's hand. Their beaks were touching softly and the two were staring into each other's eyes with intense passion. Leonardo felt lost within the golden orbs, certain that he would never find his way out of them and sure that he would never want to. _

_"__I love you, baby," Raphael whispered, his voice deep and alluring. _

_Leonardo slid both his arms over the other's shoulders and leant forward for a deep passionate kiss. Before their lips touched, he whispered, "I love you, too, Hot-Head."_

_Raphael chuckled._

Leonardo forced back both his tears and the memory before leaning into Splinter's chest.

"It is going to be okay, Leonardo." Splinter murmured.

"… Promise?" He felt childish for asking but, somehow, the small word made him feel better.

"I promise." Splinter replied softly.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long – trust me, I know how terrible it is when people do that. So, so sorry! And it's written terribly! And it's short! Ugh! Sorry!**

**Anyways, thank you to these people, who were kind enough to leave me a review on my last chapter:**

**_Ariesdragon2000_****, ****_Pen_****-****_Woman_****, ****_tmntlove2013_****, ****_Turtlefanforlife1982_**** and ****_Guest_****.**


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: ****I not own TMNT. **

* * *

**Chapter 5 – **_ "__It is going to be okay, Leonardo." Splinter murmured. _

_"… __Promise?" He felt childish for asking but, somehow, the small word made him feel better. _

_"__I promise." Splinter replied softly. _

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Anything Leonardo had been going to say, somewhere in between his mind and his mouth, was lost. He looked around at his family, at his father, his brothers, April and Casey. Raphael was not yet back and Donatello had urged the blue clad ninja to tell the others why he had left in the first place. Leonardo hesitated and bit down on his bottom lip. Hard. Splinter's hand pressed into his shoulder. Leonardo looked to Donnie, who nodded in encouragement. Then, he looked back to the others, who stared back with curiosity.

* * *

Time passed and they were yet to hear from Raphael. He had not taken his shell-cell with him and so no one in the family had any means of contacting him. Donnie worked hard to track their brother down but was constantly distracted by making sure Leonardo was alright. The blue clad ninja had been put on bed-rest, much to his dismay. April came by often to help with whatever she could, while Casey patrolled the streets, on the lookout for the red-clad warrior. Leonardo had been moved into the lounge room and placed on a hospital bed of Donatello's engineering; so that he could be taken care of easily but still be around the family. It was better than being locked in the infirmary or his room 24/7, at least.

"Can't I just-," Leo began.

"No, Leo, you've got to stay put." April replied, placing a plate of crisp garden salad beside him.

"Well, on the bright side," Mikey said, "You get to hang out with me more now, huh?"

Leonardo opened his mouth but did not respond. He flopped onto his pillows with a huff. Mikey picked up the salad, scooping up a spoonful and trying to shove it into the blue clad ninja's mouth, cooing, "Open up!"

"I'm pregnant, not handicapped, Mikey!" Leo snapped.

"Yeah but that doesn't change the fact you turn into a baby when you get upset." Mikey responded with a giggle as he managed to shove a mouthful of garden salad into his leader's mouth. April giggled.

Leonardo rolled his eyes, swiped at the salad dressing dribbling down his chin, and snatched the fork from his brother, "Very funny, Mikey, very funny."

"Well, I try." Michelangelo chuckled.

The orange clad prankster snuggled into Leonardo's side, picking up a bit of lettuce and plopping it into his mouth. Leo let out a small sigh and began to eat. He was beginning to worry about Raphael. Would he come back, was he hurt, was he okay, did he think of home? Was he coming back? Leonardo swallowed down the food but no longer felt the appetite that had taken a hold of him throughout the past few days, as a deep utterly emptiness filled his heart. That was another thing he was yet to get used to; these damned dramatic mood swings.

His moods were constantly changing, from feeling fine to feeling dead, to being overjoyed, to being utterly pissed at the smallest of things. This was especially true when thoughts of Raphael crossed his mind. He no longer knew how he felt about the emerald green turtle. When Leo had muttered his complaints about this to April, she had laughed, '_Welcome to womanhood_.' Leonardo did not like the sounds of that and had not enquired her about what she had meant by the comment, as he was afraid of the answer he would receive. He did not want to be like this all the time.

The blue clad ninja looked down to his stomach, from which a child –_his_ child – was slowly growing. He found it so hard to believe and the mere thought of it astounded him. There was a living creature, a small innocent child, growing inside him. There were no words to explain how the experience made him feel and Leonardo assumed it was because he was stuck feeling so many things at once. He felt as though he was going to explode.

"Hey, Leo?" Mikey said.

Leonardo blinked, coming out of his thoughts. He hummed in recognition, turning his head to stare at his younger brother.

"D'ya reckon it'll be a boy or a girl?" Mikey's baby blue eyes lit up, "Ooh, maybe even both?"

Leonardo rolled his eyes and chuckled weakly, "Let's hope not."

"What d'ya mean?" Mikey pouted.

"Mikey, I'm going to have to give birth to… to this," He gestured to his stomach, "And I really don't want to haft to give birth more than once."

"Fair enough." Mikey sighed, snuggling closer into his brother, "I mean, I heard that it really hurts. Like, more than anythi-,"

"Alright, thank you, Mikey. You've made me feel so much better." Leonardo said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He could feel worry swirling up within himself at the thought of the unimaginable pain he would soon be going through within the coming months. He let out a sigh.

* * *

It had now been a two weeks since the trip to the farmhouse, Leonardo's discovery and his announcement of his pregnancy. Two weeks of which nobody had heard from Raphael. Leonardo wasn't sure how he would react, or what he would do, when the red clad warrior returned. _If_ the red clad warrior returned. He let out a sigh and let himself sink into his bedding. April had bought him 'feather blankets' and 'feather pillows' which made the whole bed-rest situation easier to deal with. It coincided with his sudden lack of motivation. The others had offered him things to do, so that he was not just laying around doing nothing… But he found that all he wanted to do was lay around doing nothing. He felt drained. April had suggested vitamin tablets and promised to bring them down as soon as she could.

It was late at night now and Leonardo could feel unconsciousness calling his name. Yet, before his eyes had just quite closed, he heard the lair entrance open. Strange. April had said she would come back tomorrow, why had she come back now? Unless… Unless _Raph_.

Leonardo sat up, all thoughts of sleep miles away. He slipped out of the cosy bed and crept towards the entrance. And then he saw it. Him. Raph. Right there. And Leonardo knew exactly what it was he wanted to do. In five strides, he had closed the distance between them. Raphael watched him, wary.

"Leo, I… I'm sorry."

Leonardo was unable to help himself; he slapped him. Hard and forceful across the cheek. The slap echoed around the lair. Raphael staggered backwards, his hand against his cheek, eyeing Leonardo with widened gold eyes. He opened his mouth, as though to say something, but no sound came out. Overhead, a distant train rumbled. Minutes passed like seconds. Neither moved. And then, Leonardo took a step forward. Raphael winced away. Leonardo stepped closer and cupped both of the red clad warrior's cheeks with his hands.

"Don't ever make me go through that again, Raphael." Leonardo said, his voice even. Then tears blurred his gaze and he allowed them to despite himself. He bit his bottom lip and rested his head on the nook of Raphael's neck, "I… I was beginning to think you weren't coming back."

Raphael un-tensed at those words and Leonardo could basically feel the regret flooding from Raphael. Leonardo smiled weakly as his raging, conflicting emotions bit at him once more. The need to stay furious, the need to forgive, the need to hold him, the need to hit him. Leonardo liked that last one... but...

"I'm really tempted to hit you again." Leonardo murmured, "But I have a feeling Splinter will take of that for me. He has been trying to hide it but he is absolutely furious with you."

"Try not ta sound so damn happy next time ya say that." Raphael groused, though Leonardo detected a hint of humour. Leonardo chuckled. He closed his eyes and absorbed the warmth and the scent that was Raphael; car grease, sweat, burnt rubber and that men's cologne. Him.

"I've really missed you." Leonardo whispered.

"Yeah, I've… I've missed ya, too." Raphael said. He sighed and pulled back, "I… I really am sorry, Leo. I… I didn't mean ta be gone so long."

"Just… just don't leave me again, okay? I need you right now."

Raph nodded and tightened his grip around his lover.

"I'm sorry, Leo."

Leonardo nodded and soaked in his presence. His being there. Leonardo had not realised how much he had missed that, missed him… but he was still mad, he could not deny that.

"Raph?"

"Yeah?"

Leonardo took Raphael's hands in his own and took a step back, looking into Raphael's eyes.

"What about you go tell Splinter your back… and then you come to bed with me?"

When Raph nodded, Leonardo turned and headed back towards his bed. Raph watched the retreating figure before turning towards Splinter's room. He gulped.

Something told him that this was going to be one hell of a conversation.

* * *

**A/N: Personally, I am not liking how this chapter. I will hopefully come by and fix it later. If you have any suggestions on that, just let me know. **

**Thank you to the **_number_ **people who reviewed the last chapter:**

**_Turtlefanforlife1982, Jordy snordy angels, fearlessleader72, yukio87, tmntlover2013, Pen-Woman, flikaroo, Playtime2017 _****and****_ RaphLeoTxT16._**

* * *

**_Ps_****. I have a new oneshot up which is Leo X Donnie on my profile if you are interested in reading it. It is called "Kisses of Disapproval". Summary: **"Mikey had fallen asleep watching cartoons, Raph had slunk off to bed, Splinter had retreated to his room for the night… but a certain olive green family member was still awake; Leonardo could tell by the faint humming of a computer and the faint typing of a keyboard. Slowly, he allowed a crimson smile to spread onto his lips. (tcest; Leo X Donnie; rated 'T' to be safe; ONESHOT)**"**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: ****I not own TMNT.**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to all the people who took a moment of their time to leave me a review throughout all of the chapters so far, and I would like you all to know how much I appreciate your words. This is for you lot, XOX ! :)**

fearlessleader71 **&amp;** Raigon **&amp;** Pen-Woman **&amp;** Zephorous **&amp;** _Guest: _"I Want to Fly" **&amp;** _Guest: _"eo" **&amp;** AvisQuesto9513 **&amp;** _Guest: _jilin **&amp;** kiraynn **&amp;** HowToBeCreative **&amp;** Mewfem **&amp;** LeosVamp **&amp;** ariesdragon200 **&amp;** tmntlover2013 **&amp;** Turtlefanforlife1982 **&amp;** Cyborg'sWife **&amp;** Amy Hamato **&amp;** _Guest:_ "Kara" **&amp;** chamberkiller **&amp;** KMCCL3 **&amp;** candylover2558 **&amp;** Donatello24 **&amp;** LunarLotis **&amp;** dondena **&amp;** _Guest __**&amp;**__ Guest: _Loltmnt **&amp;** jordy snordy angels **&amp;** WOLFJADE28 **&amp;** fearlessleader72 **&amp;** yukio87 **&amp;** flikaroo **&amp;** Playtime2017 **&amp;** _Guest: _"RaphLeoTxT16" **&amp;** TurtleFanfic **&amp;** TMNTfangirl4life **&amp;** Wakizashi Warrior

* * *

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Splinter looked up as Raphael entered his room. Instantly, the weight that had been pressing on his chest lifted. He stared at the red clad warrior, at his dark emerald green skin and his fierce yet soft golden eyes. Splinter stood.

"My son," Splinter sighed, the creases on his forehead lessening, "We have been so worried."

"Yeah." Raphael looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, "I, uh.. I'm… I, uh, didn't mean ta worry ya."

Splinter took the few necessary steps to meet his son. He slowly raised his hand and lightly cupped his cheek, noting the faint three-fingered hand mark that was there. He smiled softly.

"You have spoken to Leonardo, I presume?" Splinter asked.

"I… Yeah." Raph let out a heavy sigh and his hand left his neck, sliding down so that his hand now clung his shoulder instead, "Yeah, we… We talked."

Splinter's eyes travelled up and down his son, inspecting his behaviour, observing his response.

"He was mad?" It was not a question.

"Yeah." Raph said anyways. He hesitated, "L-Leo, he, uh, said… Said you were… furious."

"I am." Splinter said evenly, his voice cool.

Raph nodded, his shoulders tensing. Splinter stared for a moment at the tensed muscles, the golden eyes that avoided his own, and the tinge of regret emanating from Raphael. He then allowed a small sigh leave his lips.

"But I am also concerned, Raphael." Splinter said, waiting until Raph looked up until he elaborated, "I know that you have spent these past few weeks thinking about what this – Leonardo's pregnancy - means. What it could mean for all of us, what it could result in."

Splinter watched as Raphael's shoulders tensed and his eyes blazed over. What he had thought of, what everyone was thinking of, was what the pregnancy could cause. After all, they all knew that humans and all species could sometimes die from giving birth; and that was when their bodies were more adapt to giving birth, more prepared and designed for the task. Leonardo, with his mutated, un-adapted body, the chance of death from giving birth was much higher. The thought alone sent a wave of iciness down both Splinter and Raphael's spines.

"This is hard on all of us, you and Leonardo especially. I understand that. A large burden has been placed on your shoulders, one that I can neither remove nor can I lessen. For that, I am sorry. All that I can do is assure you that neither Leonardo nor yourself will need to carry this burden on your own, and that your brothers and I will be here to assist you in any way we can."

Raph nodded, his jaw tight. Splinter lifted his son's chin and stared into his eyes, seeing the gratitude there, layers beneath the molten gold. Splinter smiled softly and took a step back.

"Now, I think that my lecture can await until afterwards. I think it best that you go to Leonardo's side, and that you stay there." Splinter said.

Raph nodded, "Hai, Sensei… Th-Thanks."

* * *

Leonardo watched Raphael step from their father's room and slide the door shut behind himself. The blue clad smiled as the dark emerald green figure approached.

"So, he didn't kill you?" Leonardo asked.

"Always the tone of disappointment." Raphael grinned.

It felt as though somebody had pinched Leo's heart and yanked it, knocking it – and, subsequently, everything else – out of place. Slowly, the blue clad ninja raised his arms, wrapped them around his lover's neck, and pulled him down close. First their breaths touched, and then their lips. Raphael's warmth invaded Leonardo's and vice versa. Leo pulled his neck down more, pulled him closer, feeling as though they would melt into each other's arms. His chest ached for air but he ignored it. He loosened his grasp and pressed his hands on Raphael's shoulders, feeling the warmth emanating from them. Raphael's lips left his and his breath came out in a rush, blowing across Leo's face. Leonardo cupped the red clad warrior's cheeks, keeping him from going any further.

Leonardo had missed this closeness.

Missed Raphael.

Raphael pressed his hands on top of Leonardo's and stared into his blue clad lover's eyes. Leo stared into the pools of molten gold, searched their depths, and observed every already-memorised detail. Raph let out a rough sigh.

"Leo, I really am-,"

"Sorry." Leo finished, "I know."

As it turned out, the hospital bed Donnie had made was, in fact, _not_ big enough for two adult mutant ninja turtle bodies. Raphael counted that he had fallen out of the bed seven times. Seven. Fucking. Times. On the seventh, Leonardo had awoken and groggily suggested he bring out another hospital bed, to put next to his one. He had only fallen out of the bed once after that, and only because he had forgotten to lock the small wheels down so that they didn't move.

"This is why I sleep in a hammock." Raph muttered. Leonardo laughed. Raphael frowned, "Oh, yeah, fucking hilarious. Now, come on, I'm done with all this damn mooshy-ness. Lets just…" Raph pulled himself closer to Leonardo and wrapped an arm over him. Leo rolled his eyes.

"I was wondering how long you were going to let you soft side show." Leonardo mused.

"Hey, what? No, that weren't my fucking soft side, I aint got a fucking soft side!" Raph snapped.

"Really? Then what was with that whole '_I'm so sorry_'-thing?" Leo asked with a raised eye ridge.

"That was… That was me being sorry, not me being a damn softie." Raph snapped.

"You should be sorry more often, then." Leo mumbled as his eyes fluttered closed.

He heard Raph mutter a response but was too deep within the realm of sleep to take much notice. He awoke the next day to the sound of Mikey's voice and then a rough shushing sound. _'Dammit, Mikey, yer gonna wake him!'_ he then drifted back to sleep as a warm hand pressed onto his shoulder. Leonardo dreamed of fuzzy blotches of colour. He faintly knew who they were, what they were and what was happening but his mind refused to lift the fog. _BAM_. Leonardo startled awake, giving his surroundings a quick glance over.

"Dammit, Mikey!" Raph hissed.

"What happened?" Leonardo grumbled as he propped himself up onto his elbows. Raphael looked down at him and let out a rough sigh.

"Nothin' happened, just go back ta sleep."

Completely and utterly ignoring Raphael's statement, he peered past the red clad warrior to see Mikey trying – and failing – to pick up a large white cardboard box. The smell of scrambled eggs and bacon was in the air, so everybody would have not woken up too long ago.

"What's that?" Leonardo asked.

"Some new video games I found in the trash." Mikey grinned, "Heaps good condition, too. You guys wanna help come check if they work?"

Raph looked down at Leo.

"I guess I don't really have anything better to do, anyways." Leonardo shrugged.

The day was spent playing the video games Mikey had found. Some were violent, blood-filled games and others were more sportful. One disc did not have a clear cover and so Mikey plopped it in with curiosity lighting up is bright blue eyes. Raphael and Leonardo had snickered when a fairy princess popped up on the screen, speaking fluent Spanish and pointing a wand at the word 'comienzo'.

Donatello chose that moment to lean over the back of the lounge and hold out some bags of chips. "Anyone hungry?"

"Thanks, Don." Leo said.

"Yeah, Dude, you're a life saver." Mikey grinned as the purple clad genius chucked him a packet.

Don nodded at the TV, "Nice game."

Mikey rolled his eyes, "Oh, har-har." He picked up the Mario Kart cover, "You gonna play, or just crack jokes all night?"

"I was going to-,"

"Dude, it wasn't actually a question," Mikey said, and grinned, "we will use force to get you to play. 'Sides, the more of us that play, the more of us that can beat Raph's ass."

"Language." Leo reminded automatically. The others promptly ignored him.

"Well, I suppose I can't argue with that." Don said.

"What is this?" Raph frowned, "Pick on Raph day or somethin'?"

"More like Revenge-On-Raph-Day-For-Bailing." Mikey said as he plopped the disc into the game system, and threw the Spanish-fairy-disc into the trash.

"And not so much a day, as a month," Leo said.

"And it's kind of a special month," Don added.

"'Cause it only ends when we want it to." Mikey finished.

"Peachy." Raph muttered.

* * *

With Raph back, and Leo all too happy to commit to the "stay in bed" rule, Donatello found himself diving into a full-on investigation of Abigail Finch, instead of his recent half-assed snoops.

Information was scarce, and she seemed to be staying on the down-low. Every site Don went to either jokingly stated she had been locked up in a mental hospital somewhere in Louisiana, or said she was in Romania, hunting down a supposed vampire. Some even stated she was in Antarctica, searching for the abdominal snow man.

His lips pressed together firmly and he glared at his screen. All he knew was that Abigail Finn was back (he had always known she would be; she wasn't one to give up _that _easily), and that her current project was his family. He also knew the internet was a lost cause, and would give no answers. There were no records, and no evidence, of her being anywhere near Casey's farmhouse – _at all_. Not in government files, and not even in his enemies'.

Don supposed she had somehow learnt that Casey had utterly humiliated her to keep them safe, and that she now wanted to avenge herself… all the while proving the "green men" were real, and re-establishing her reputation. He didn't know how she had managed to fall off the grid, and guessed that somebody powerful was aiding her investigation.

He couldn't be happier that the real green man-er-_woman_, had been too frightened to raise her babies in the area, and that she had moved on (Mikey had insisted they keep an eye on them, and so Don had placed trackers on them to check on their whereabouts, so he knew for a fact she was safe from the monster hunter).

He rubbed his forehead and sighed. There was simply nothing he could find. He had asked Leo to keep quiet about the incident he and Raph had seen until he found some information – he didn't want the others to start worrying – but now there seemed to be nothing more to do other than tell.

Don stood stiffly and twisted his arms in the air to pop them back into place. "Why can nothing ever just go _right_?" He muttered.

The sun had risen little more than an hour ago, and so he wasn't surprised in the slightest to find that the rest of his family had already set off for bed. Raph had helped move Leo into the infirmary for more privacy, and so all the lights in the family room were off. There was no light creeping from behind neither Mikey nor Splinter's doors, either. The lair was dark, and only the faint sound of city life and snores filled the airways. Don rubbed at his ear slits as an indistinct ringing filled them, and headed for his room.

The news about Abigail Finn would haft to wait for just one more night.

* * *

The silence between them felt thick and heavy, and weighed on them as a constant reminder of what Raph had done.

Raphael's arms were wrapped protectively around the blue clad ninja, and they were close, their breaths mingling, and their bodies pressing against each other… and, yet, they felt so very far apart. Leonardo clutched his lover's hand and tried to find the usual comfort he received from the simple action, but… nothing.

"There has to be something I can do." Raph suddenly blurted out.

Leo looked up and met his gaze, his expression doubtful, "Raph…"

"Anything, Leo," Raph pleaded, "There's gotta be some way ta make this right."

Leo opened his mouth, and closed it again. He sighed, "I don't… I don't think so." When Raph opened his mouth to give yet another testimony, Leonardo added, "Band-Aids don't fix bullet holes, Raph."

The red clad warrior closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against his lover's. "_Anything_, Leo."

"I could try slapping you again," Leo suggested with a sly smile.

"Or, maybe," Raph heaved himself above Leonardo and brushed his lips over his lover's. Leo breathed out heavily and his eyes became hooded.

"That might work." Leonardo murmured.

Raphael pressed his lips onto Leonardo's; this kiss was longer, and more determined. Leo wrapped his arms around his neck and indulged himself in all that was Raphael. The smell of oil, car grease, and sweat. _Him_. Inevitably, the kiss broke. Leo sighed and pressed his palm firmly against Raphael's shoulder, feeling his warmth and his rough leather-like skin that was all-too familiar to him.

They were close, their breaths mingling, and their bodies pressing against each other… but they still felt so very far apart.

* * *

**Thank you to the people who reviewed the last chapter; your words really have helped me to keep writing this. Just thank you so, so, so much. Your words have just encouraged me to keep writing.**

_**Yukio87, Pen-Woman, tmntlover2013, TMNTfangirl4life, &amp; Wakizashi Warrior. **_

_**Ps**_**. I have a, well, now-old-oneshot up which is Leo X Raph on my profile if you are interested in reading it. It is called "**_**The Only Exception**_**".  
Summary: **"Leonardo reached for Raphael's doorbell. What awaited him, he wasn't sure. Raph lived alone in this apartment, Leo knew that much. He also knew Raph wanted him every way possible. Coming here hadn't been a good move, especially since he was so unsure of the situation; this Leo knew. And yet here he was. _WARNING: Raphael X Leonardo, human AU, adult themes, 'tcest' (not related by blood though), etc. ONESHOT_.**" (you can just picture them as turtles if you don't like human AU's)**


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